The world forgetting
by Sui P. Lestrange
Summary: CS Movie Month. It just hurt too much, she could not deal with it, not another abandonement. She took the necessary precautions and drove her bug up to New York. Final destination: Lacuna Inc. "My name is Emma Swan. And I am here to erase Killian Jones." Based on the movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.


**A.N:** It is CS Movie Month and the wonderful Rugile and I had been talking and I got inspired. So here is my contribution, inspired by the wonderful Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  
If you've seen the movie you know there will be sad world forgetting, by the world forgot

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Once Upon a Time or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

* * *

"My name is Emma Swan." She said, taking a deep breath and looking at the man sitting before her, trying her best to ignore the camera behind him. She must look the sight; eyes bloodshot and circled dark, pale skin, hair in a messy pony tail because she hasn't had the energy to wash it for a while now.

She notified her parents she'd be away for a couple of days, had taken Henry with her so he could visit Neal while she would run her errands. A trip to Lacuna Inc. and everything would be alright. Everything would be better.

"And I am here to erase Killian Jones."

* * *

Killian rushed into the building, ignoring the blonde receptionist as she tried to halt him from entering the office Mier-..; Mierzwie.. oh bugger his name; the man who stole his Swan.

"You." He seethed as he barged in, paying no regard to the person in the chair on the other side of the desk. No, he only had eyes for the person in front of him, the one wearing the white coat as if he were a chief of surgery or something.

"I'm sorry sir, he wouldn't listen." The receptionist meekly explained.

The doctor stood, apologizing to his current client and asked his receptionist to guide the client out and make an appointment.

"You … you erased her memory. You took her from me."

"I'm sorry sir; I have dozens of clients…" he didn't want to be disrespectful; Killian had to keep telling himself.

"Swan. Emma Swan. Fiery green eyes, blond hair that frames her face like an angel. Why have you taken her from me? You cannot have…"

"You must be…" the doctor started, quickly typing Emma's name in the computer to find her records. "Killian Jones I presume."

He just glared at the man. Oh how he hated him. Hated him for what he had done.

"Our files are confidential Mr. Jones, suffice to say that Miss Swan came here of her own volition. She was unhappy and wanted to move on. I can, however, give you this. She left this for you." He reached into his filing cabinet and took hold of an envelope.

"She was quite adamant that you would come here. I didn't believe her but seeing you here, I'd say Miss Swan had quite the insight of you."

Killian tore the envelope out of the hands of the doctor, his fingers tearing it open. Only to reveal words of accusation, words that finally broke him.

"_You left me first."_

* * *

"_So this is where it ends?" he asked her and she was doing her best to keep back the tears. He could read her effortlessly, at least he could. From the very beginning. If she would start crying right now he wouldn't think twice of walking through the door. He would remove his hand from the doorknob and walk up the stairs to her, cradle her in his arms and murmur sweet nothings in her ear. Telling her it would be okay, that they would work it out._

_But she wouldn't cry. She was too proud to cry in front of him._

"_It ended a while ago Killian. We were just too scared to admit that." Because they were true love, and true love was meant to prevail all evil. But what if the evil was themselves? How could true love prevail then?_

"_I told you once before love, you might be a human lie detector but you are rubbish at lying." he replied before opening the door and leaving. He made a straight walk to the docks, where the Jolly was docked. He would leave at her –albeit unspoken but implied – request._

_He stopped walking, turning back to look at the apartment. Why did all this seem so familiar, a déjà-vu? He turned around again and proceeded toward the Jolly Roger. A vague feeling in the back of his mind that, when he returned, all would be different._

"What does the procedure entails exactly?"

It was only a few days later when he returned to Lacuna Inc. Pale, unshaven, a complete mess. Emma had left him and even though the good moments outweighed the bad he couldn't live with the idea that everything they had together; She would not remember. To her it never happened and the idea that he would see her walking around in Storybrook, unaware of his existence, of what they had shared, it was too much.

"Every momentum, every object… You clear out your apartment and bring it here; with tests we'll create a map of the memories attached to it. You'll go home, take a specifically engineered sleeping pill and we will come to erase those memories. You will wake up the next day without any recollection of Miss Swan or us."

Killian felt unsure. Would he do this? Would he actually erase his Swan? He couldn't handle the hurt, he couldn't.

"When can it be done?"

_It was another piece of garbage, another wasted chance. Another sliver of hope slipping through their fingers._

"_Maybe we should just…stop." She said resigned as she tossed another negative pregnancy test into the garbage bin. _

"_Oh love, we've only been trying for a couple of months."_

"_Maybe it's a sign. Besides… I know how I was when Joshua was born and although I love my brother to bits I just don't want to do that to Henry. The resentment, it's not fair."_

_Killian frowned and walked to her, reaching to trail his hand over her arm but she turned out of his grasp and walked out of the bathroom. He followed her._

"_Henry adores Joshua, he'll loves that little laddie.. I'm sure he will love a brother or sister."_

_Emma just hummed, trying to end the conversation but Killian saw, in that brief glance she directed at him, that other matters were playing into her reasoning._

"_What aren't you telling me? Do you not think me to be good as a father?"_

_Emma whirled around, facing him, "Killian… it's not that you wouldn't be a good father. I see how you are with Henry and Joshua it's just… Do we really want to bring a child into our fucked up family tree? Where its grandparents are the same age of its parents? And…"_

"_And his dad is Captain Hook. Just because you've been raised to think of me as only a fairy tale does not mean that I am incapable of parenting."_

"_That's not…"_

"_That's exactly what you are saying Emma. You are afraid I'll be a worthless parent, a worthless part of your family and you will have to raise the babe alone. Just like before. Do you not love me enough to have faith?"_

_Emma let a mirthless chuckle escape, "Faith… Raising a kid cannot just be decided by faith Killian."she spat. And if knowing immediately that what she had said had hurt him so much more than the loss of his hand her face contorted with regret as he stood still, his hand curled into a fist. She left the room._

* * *

Killian went to the hotel room he was renting for the duration of his stay in New York. He had phoned Neal, asked if they could meet.

"Hook…" he had started, the nickname still stuck and unchangeable in their conversations, when Killian had revealed his plan.  
"I just can't Neal. Knowing she doesn't remember me, doesn't remember us, how am I to walk by her on the street and not think of how…. I would scare her, a stranger acting so intimate with her…."

"And what of Henry?" Neal asked. He understood Hook's reasoning but what of his son?

"I will still remember the boy, I think. If not he'll be sure to reacquaint with me rather quickly. I… tell him to 'chin up' will you? I … I have to go sleep now."

_He opened his eyes, feeling the familiar comfort of their bed beneath him. He stretched his arms, last night had been tiring for all the right reasons, the feel of his joints being stretched out of their resting position feeling wonderful._

_He noticed the empty space next to him and when he paid close attention he could hear the radio playing. A smile spread on his lips as he got out of bed. She had thought him the concept of decency early in their relation, when he tended to walk around butt naked to surprise her yet forgetting Henry would be with them or someone was over._

_Today however… was completely different. Henry was with Regina and the Royal parents were celebrating their marriage. So with no clothes he walked out of their bedroom, ready to surprise her only to be stunned by surprise himself. There was his Swan, wearing his shirt… and nothing more, dancing and singing to the tunes of the radio in the kitchen while preparing those delicious hot chocolates with whipped cream and cinnamon. Something she had easily made him crave – as much as her. And what a sight to behold._

_It was only when she turned that she froze her movements and looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. _

"_You were asleep."_

"_Aye."_

"_And you are naked." She stated, her eyes traveling over his body which made him grin._

"_Aye, that I am."_

"_Didn't we have a rule about this?" yet she did not stop her gaze. He walked up to her, remembering that he had never thought her to look more gorgeous than she did right now. He wrapped his arms around her and pushed her up on the table._

"_Today is a gray zone – rules need not apply. Besides love, I don't really see you complaining."_

_She smiled and wrapped her arm around his neck, her fingers toying with the hair on the base of his neck while the other started to unbutton his shirt that she was wearing._

"_Shut it Pirate."_

"_Emma…" he breathed as she moved his hand underneath the opened shirt. And it was then, that moment that he realized he didn't want to let her go; didn't want to lose his memories of her._

"_I don't want to lose you."_

"_You won't." _

_The next moment he reached to kiss her, she was gone._

He tried to hide her. He did. Took her to places in his memory she had no place in being. This caused some rather excruciating embarrassing moments.

"_Well… why did you agree to erase me then?" Emma asked as they were running through the Neverland forest._

"_Because you erased me first." He replied as he ducked for an incoming arrow.  
"When I told you to hide me, did you seriously have to bring me to THIS specific memory?" She sighed in aggravation._

"_I panicked okay?" He groaned as he pushed her to a tree and out of the line of fire. "You said memories you don't belong in, well… me being chased by the natives after stealing Tigerlily… oh don't look at me like that lass, it was long before we met..."_

"_They're closing in on us." She said instead of shooting him another reprimanding stare.  
"No love, I get away in this one." He said smugly, until he saw the fear on her face_

"_Not them."_

"_No." _

But it was too late, she had already disappeared. He felt broken, was cursing himself for ever agreeing to erase her. Memory after memory passed him by. The first time she told him she loved him, the first time they had sex, the movie night where Henry decided it was time he learned what was wrong with perms and waxed mustaches, the saving of Henry, their kiss in Neverland.

Her picking him as Dead guy of the year, him throwing the fight so she could return to her son, him locking her in Rumplestiltskin cell and of course… the beanstalk.

"_This is the last of it." She said as they were standing on opposite ends; him chained by a manacle to that cage, her ready to walk away with the compass, and his hope for revenge._

"_I know." He whispered.  
"I'm sorry I erased you." She apologized and Killian smiled softly._

"_No you're not. I understand though. I forgive you." He said softly and she gave him an apologetic smile. She turned to leave._

"_Hey Swan."_

_She turned to look at him again. "Yeah Hook?" _

_It was soothing to hear his moniker roll from her lips, he would never hear her say that again and it killed him a little inside._

"_What if you stayed this time?"_

"_What?"_

"_If this is the last, I don't want it being of you walking away from me." He said softly and Emma smiled. His Emma smiled and walked back to him as the darkness approached. The darkness that would remove her from him forever. _

"_Alright Pirate. I'll stay." She slid closer to him, he felt her breath on his cheek and he slid his hand in her hair pulling her close to him. Her scent surrounding him, he was home._

"_I love you." He whispered and then he saw nothing but darkness._

* * *

When he woke up he felt hollow. He felt not at ease. He blamed it on residing in the city too long. Neal had told him about the docks. He would visit before he returned to Storybrooke, in the hope of feeling some of the normality return to him before undertaking the journey.

What he did not expect was to find another person standing there at the crack of dawn.

"You look familiar." He said when he saw her, standing by the pier.

She rolled her eyes at him, another person with another lame line that was supposed to sweep her off her feet. She chanced a sideway glance at him.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"It's the truth so… yes. If I could name a place or a time I'd mention it but I seem to lack one of those so… yes; this is the best I can do."

He gave her a soft smile and returned his gaze to the water. He closed his eyes and breathe in the air, no doubt the most foul one he'd ever inhaled, that's what you get with big cities, but it calmed him. He'd been out of sorts today.

She was taking him in. he hadn't lied, of that she was certain. So she took him in, was he familiar? She hadn't the faintest but she did, however, notice how he seemed at peace. As if the water had calmed him. A kindred soul? Water always calmed her as well.

"I… I'm not from here." She replied finally.

"Oh, same here lass. I just… had the urge to come here. As if I needed to do something here. Can't remember it though. "

They remained silent for a while.

"The name is Killian. Killian Jones." He said while looking at her, that same peaceful look on his face. It was inviting.

"Swan. Emma Swan."

_Fin._


End file.
